Cocaine conspirator Graham Welsh complained to the Echo about the spiralling cost of running his haulage business just weeks before his multi-million-pound drugs plot began to unravel.

Welsh – who is one of three accomplices in their 60s now behind bars – spoke to the paper after his weekly diesel outgoings rocketed by nearly a quarter following Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine in February 2022.

He told the Echo the following month: “The cost of filling our vehicles with diesel is normally around £4,500 per week and this has risen to £5,500 which is simply unsustainable.

“We’ve a loyal customer base but I do think the Government should reduce the level of taxation to help companies out.”

Disgraced MGW Haulage boss Graham Welsh speaking to the Sunderland Echo about rising fuel costs in 2022.

placeholder image — Disgraced MGW Haulage boss Graham Welsh speaking to the Sunderland Echo about rising fuel costs in 2022.

Welsh, now 64, also said he would join any protests over rising fuel prices and added that his business had been targeted by diesel thieves since the invasion.

Only weeks later, however, his secret smuggling activities were uncovered by police when around £5m of cocaine was seized from a back of a lorry on the A1.

Wider investigations in Sunderland revealed further supplies of cocaine and quantities of methamphetamine.

The total haul was believed to have a potential street value of £11m.

MGW Haulage boss Graham Welsh pictured in 2022 before his cocaine smuggling plot was uncovered.

Welsh, of Hylton Road, Jackson, 65, of Belstone Court, both Sunderland, and Colin Cowie, 64, of Chamberlin Street, Blyth, were all convicted of fraudulent evasion on the prohibition of importation of cocaine and conspiracy to supply cocaine between June and August 2022.

Welsh was jailed for 16 years, Jackson for 15 years and Cowie for nine years.

Speaking after Monday’s sentencing hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Carol Young, of Northumbria Police, which led a five-force investigation into the plot, said: “This is one of the largest amounts of class A drugs ever seized in our force area.

“We have always made it clear that illicit substances such as cocaine and methamphetamine have no place in our communities.

Drugs seized as part of the police operation to snare Sunderland haulage boss Graham Welsh.

“Both drugs are an incredibly addictive and destructive substance and these dealers were aware of the illegalities and the damaging consequences of their actions.

“I'd like to thank our officers for their endless hard work and our colleagues in Cleveland, West Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Greater Manchester for their assistance, who carried out stops which proved vital to our investigation.

“Under the banner of Operation Sentinel, we'll continue to disrupt serious and organised crime and keep these substances off the streets.”

Anyone with information about suspected criminality can get in touch by either sending Northumbria Police a direct message on social media, using the live chat function on their www.northumbria.police.uk website or by visiting the website’s Report section.

For those unable to contact the force in these ways, call 101.